ZAGDRUM - Hank Drum from France

A few years back, in the days before I’d yet aquired a HandPan, I thought to myself that when the day comes that a Hang, or a Halo graces my lap, it wouldn’t be long before my small collection of steel tongue drum found their way onto ebay, unable to compete as they’d be, with the far more highly prized HandPan. This did not happen. And even though I am now lucky enough to have acquired (with persistence) several HandPan, my Hank / Steel tongue drum have not yet been cast aside, and/or sold off on ebay. In fact, there’s something about the sound of a well-made steel tongue drum that I find so appealing, that there are months, where in my house, my Hank receive far more lap-time, than even my ‘ever highly sought after’ PANArt Hang.

Which brings us to the ‘ZAGDRUM”, the French-made Hank, that is (at time of writing) available in two different styles: The Zagdrum 30 - which are traditional Hank style, being made from recycled propane gas tanks, and the Zagdrum 40 - which is a larger model made from custom shells.

With two years (and growing) of research and development into the creation of Hank funneled into their manufacture, Zagdrum, feature laser cut notes, with up to twelve notes per instrument, and are available in all manner of classic sound-models from: Hijaz, and Melog, through to one of my Halo favorites, Golden Gate.

With tones that sing clear, and bright (see embedded video), if you’re in the market for a great sounding steel tongue drum, the Zagdrum, is certainly worthy of consideration. And you can find more information on the Zagdrum over at their website: HERE. Or alternatively, you can check out more videos over at their YouTube channel: HERE.